cocotte

¹

[ koh-kot, kuh-; French kaw-kawt ]

noun

, plural co·cottes [koh-, kots, kaw-, kawt].

1. a high-class female prostitute in the second half of the 19th century and the very early 20th century; demimondaine.

cocotte

²

[ koh-kot, kuh-; French kaw-kawt ]

noun

, plural co·cottes [koh-, kots, kaw-, kawt].

1. a round or oval casserole, usually of earthenware or fireproof porcelain, used especially for cooking an individual portion of meat, fowl, or game.

cocotte

/ kə-; kɔkɔt; kəʊˈkɒt /

noun

1. a small fireproof dish in which individual portions of food are cooked and served
2. a prostitute or promiscuous woman

Word History and Origins

Origin of cocotte¹

First recorded in 1865–70; from French: originally a child's word for a hen, equivalent to coq cock ¹ + -otte feminine suffix

Origin of cocotte²

1865–70; < French: small cast-iron pot for stewing meat; alteration, by suffix substitution, of Middle French cocasse, coquasse applied to various receptacles, obscurely akin to coquemar kettle, by uncertain mediation < Medieval Greek koukoumárion (or its presumed VL source), ultimately derivative of Latin cucuma kettle

Word History and Origins

Origin of cocotte¹

C19: from French, from nursery word for a hen, feminine of coq cock ¹

Example Sentences

Where our authors have had the effrontery to write the word “cocotte” in black and white, they replace it by the word “actress.”

From Project Gutenberg

Paris has always accepted without countenancing the properous cocotte.

From Project Gutenberg

You must not confuse the demi-mondaine with the grande cocotte.

From Project Gutenberg

Not a word did he say to his wife, but all night watched over Cocotte in the stable.

From Project Gutenberg

Was it possible that this coldly voluptuous madonna belonged to the class of born wantons, that she was a coquette, a cocotte?

From Project Gutenberg